A conventional pump gun such as a shotgun includes a slide handle element which is normally mounted at the underside of the gun barrel about the magazine tube and is manually reciprocated in a front to rear direction relative to the barrel to cock the gun and feed successive rounds of ammunition to the firing chamber. In practice, the slide handle is customarily grasped in one hand facing upwardly and retracted or moved rearwardly and then forwardly. Commonly, various types of hand grips will project downwardly from the slide handle and under the barrel to ease the operation of the slide handle as previously described.
However, some pump-type guns are typically fired from the waist or hip. For example, when an assault shotgun is used, it is fired from the hip and in many cases, it is fired while the person controlling it is on the move. The standard slide that is on most shotguns is located under the barrel and parallel thereto. In order to grasp the slide for either control or to reload the weapon one must grasp it with the hand palm up, fingers up, and pull down and back. Gripping the slide in this fashion is not a natural gripping position for the hand when the gun is being fired from the hip. A more natural position which would facilitate strength and controllability would be grasping the slide palm down, fingers down, and pushing down and back. This would not be feasible with standard slide. Accordingly, it is awkward to fire an assault shotgun or the like from the hip, and the users controllability is reduced, especially, if firing on the run. Furthermore, grasping a handle attached to the slide and projecting downward therefrom would be difficult when the gun is positioned at the hip. Consequently a recoil assembly affording a user greater control and ease of use is needed for pump guns of the type fired from the waist or hip.